Pneumatic cotton feeder with bypass



Dec. 3, 1968 R. A. WHITENER 3,414,329

PNEUMATIC COTTON FEEDER WITH BYPASS Filed Sept. 29, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR RUFUS ARCHIE WHITENER ATTORNEY Dec. 3, 1968 R. A. WHITENER 2 PNEUMATIC COTTON FEEDER WITH BYPASS Filed Sept. 29, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet z INVENTOR RUFUS ARCHIE WHITENER ATTORNEY United States Patent O 3,414,329 PNEUMATIC COTTON FEEDER WITH BYPASS Rufus Archie Whitener, Big Spring, Tex., assignor t Continental/Moss-Gordin, Incorporated, Prattville, Ala., a corporation of Delaware Filed Sept. 29, 1966, Ser. No. 582,902 Claims. (Cl. 302-23) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A cotton feeder for use with a stream of air comprising an induction tube for feeding cotton into the stream of air and flowing the air and cotton toward a storage bin, a bypass conduit for directing the stream of air around the storage bin, movable bafiles for selectively directing the cotton from the stream of air into the storage bin or with the stream of air through the bypass conduit, feed rollers in the bin for feeding the cotton at a uniform rate from the storage bin back into the stream of air, and an air inlet opening in the induction tube upstream of the bin which is opened in response to a predetermined volume of cotton present in the bin, to decrease the flow of air through the induction tube.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Conventional systems for unloading and conveying cotton from the trailer to the gin outfit utilize accumulator or feed bins, but these conventional systems require a separator and vacuum feeder to separate the incoming seed cotton from its conveying airstream and drop it into the accumulator bin, from which it is fed outwardly into a second airstream for delivery to a drier, cleaner, or other cotton processing machine. The present invention is designed to provide a method of and means for selectively depositing the cotton in the accumulator bin or bypassing the accumulator for delivery direct to the cotton processing equipment, according to the nature of the cotton to be ginned and the discretion of the operator.

Conventional systems requiring a separator and double fan system operate in a satisfactory manner but are quite expensive, and require considerable space. It is frequently impossible to find enough room in the older gin outfits to install the accumulator or feed bin. It is frequently necessary to rearrange the equipment and to add extra power potential to install such equipment in one of the older gin outfits not being equipped with such apparatus.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is the object of the present invention to provide all the advantages of the accumulator from which the rate of feed can be regulated to suit the exact capacity of the gin outfit Without having to add extra motors, fans, piping, etc. It is the further object of the invention to provide such equipment that requires little space and can be installed by suspending from overhead trusses so as to not interfere with the arrangement of existing equipment on the gin floor.

It is the still further object of this invention to provide an accumulator bin to utilize the same conveying airstream that brings the cotton to the accumulator bin to also deliver the cotton away from the accumulator bin.

It is the still further object to provide such equipment with an integral bypass bafiie arrangement so that the accumulator bin and feed out arrangement can be bypassed in the event of mechanical trouble, thus assuring continued operation of the gin outfit while repairs are effected.

It is another object of this invention to provide wad breaker rolls adjacent the inlet and adjacent the outlet of ice the accumulator bin so that the cotton is thoroughly loosened and prepared for further treatment such as drying, cleaning, etc. as it passes through the accumulator bin of this invention.

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent on reading the following specification taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing in which:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a cross sectional view of an embodiment of the cotton feeder disclosed herein;

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view of the pneumatic cotton feeder of FIG. 1 taken along lines 22. of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic view indicating one position of the subject accumulator feed bin with respect to the cotton trailer and the gin outfit proper.

DISCLOSURE OF AN EMBODIMENT Referring now more particularly to the drawings in which like numericals indicate like parts throughout the several views, a cotton induction tube 60 leads from a position above a wagon 91 or other supply of cotton to the cotton feeder 11. The cotton feeder 11 comprises a housing 12 which defines an accumulator bin or storage area 14 and a passageway 15. The housing 12 is generally rectangular in cross section and passageway 15 is separated from accumulator bin 14 by wall 35 within housing 12. Housing 12 is provided with inlet 10 and outlet 98 by means of which cotton or other airborne fibrous material can be conveyed into and away from feeder 11. Wall 35 terminates at its upper end in a flange 36 which serves to stiffen the upper end of wall 35.

Adjacent the upper end of wall 35 and in approximate alignment with inlet 10 is positioned a rotatable breaker roll 16 which extends the entire width of the housing 12. The breaker roll 16 is rotatably supported on its axle 17 by the walls of the housing 12 and has a plurality of projections 18 extending radially outwardly thereof and equally spaced around its circumference. These pnojections can be in the form of slats or spikes or a combination of the two. The breaker roll 16 is arranged to rotate in the direction of the arrow 19.

A spreader conveyor 20 is located in the bin 14 near the upper portion thereof at approximately the same height as breaker roll 16 and in alignment therewith. The spreader conveyor 20 is in the form of a helical screw having its threads reversed at the center and is rotatably supported on its axle 21 by the sides of the bin 14 at 22. A shield 24 is attached to the inner wall of the bin 14 along the length of the spreader conveyor 20 so that the shield 24 and the inner surface of the bin 14 near the spreader conveyor 20 together form a working surface indicated at 25. The spreader conveyor 20 is driven to rotate in the direction indicated by the arrow 26.

A baffle 28 is positioned between the breaker roll 16 and the spreader conveyor 20 and extends the entire width of the bin. Baffle 28 has surfaces 29, 30, 31 and 32 which are positioned to cooperate with the breaker roll 16 and the spreader conveyor 20 to prevent the incoming stream of seed cotton from falling directly into the bin 14 before being spread across the width of the bin by the spreader 20. Any material not passing over the point formed by the acute angle at 33 will pass downwardly into the bin 14 between the breaker roll 16 and the baflle surfaces 29 and 30.

The bin 14 converges near its midpoint to provide opposed walls 38 and 39 which slope inwardly toward a feed section 40. The feed section 40 houses a pair of oppositely rotating feed rolls 41 and 42 and a second breaker roll 43. The feeder rolls have their axles 44 and 45 mounted in the ends of housing 12 and a plurality of slats 46 and 47 are evenly spaced around their peripheries similar to those of breaker roll 16. The feed rolls 41 and 42 rotate in the directions indicated by their arrows 48 and 49. These rollers can be driven with gears in the usual manner from a suitable variable speed drive well known in the art so that the rate of feed can be regulated to suit the requirements of the particular gin outfit being served.

The second breaker roll 43 is positioned below feed rolls 41 and 42. Like roll 16, breaker roll 43 has a plurality of radially projecting slats or spikes 52 to further work the material passing vertically downward between rolls 41 and 42. The breaker roll 43 has its axle 50 supported by the housing 12 and rotates in the directions indicated by arrow 51.

Both the breaker rolls 16 and 43 rotate with a much higher angular velocity than the feed rolls 41 and 42 so that the material passed thereover is vigorously loosened and flutied to prepare it for subsequent drying and/or cleaning operations prior to the actual ginning.

The passageway 15 is connected to the inlet and the adjustable bafiles 55 and 56 are positioned at the intersection of the inlet 10, the passageway 15, and the bin 14. These baflies are pivotally mounted about their axes 57 and 58 respectively so that both baffles can be adjusted to guide the incoming stream of cotton into bin 14 or to deflect it into passageway 15, when desired. In their solid line positions shown in FIG. 1, they direct the cotton into bin 14 over breaker roll 16 and spreader conveyor 20. In their dotted line position all of the cotton would be bypassed around chamber 14 through passageway 15.

Induction tube 60 is provided with an alternate air inlet 61 adjacent inlet 10. A valve 62 is pivotally mounted about an axis 63 so that then the fan 90 will draw in both air and cotton through induction tube 60 when the air inlet 61 is closed, or air only through air inlet 61 when the induction tube 60 is closed.

Valve 62 is controlled by a conventional solenoid arrangement 65 which is electrically connected to a switch 66 positioned in the upper half of bin 14 and mounted on the rear wall of casing 12. The switch 66 has a wand 68 projecting outwardly into bin 14 that senses the amount of cotton present in bin 14. A shield 69 which is attached to the rear wall above switch 66 keeps cotton from becoming packed around the switch to prevent its proper functioning.

The passageway extends vertically downward from inlet 10 to form a curved portion 70 which is continuous with a horizontal portion 71. The horizontal portion 71 communicates with the lower end of the feed section 40 of the bin 14 below breaker roll 43 so that the horizontal portion 71 of the passageway 15 functions as a blow box.

The lower end of the feed section 40 connects to the horizontal portion 71 of the passageway 15 through opening 99 formed between transverse edge 74 on the downstream side and transverse edge 75 on the upstream side of opening 99. The curved portion 76 of wall 35 converges with lower portion 100 of casing 12 to gradually restrict the cross section of the passageway 15 as it approaches edge 75 so the passageway 15 is smaller in cross section area than it is at edge 74, thus it will be seen that a venturi effect will be created about opening 99 when air is moved through passage 15 by the fan 90.

The housing 12 of the subject invention has various access doors and inspection plates and catwalks or operator platforms which are not a part of this invention. These are indicated by the numerals 80, 81, 82, 83, 84 and 85 and their use is well understood by those skilled in the art.

OPERATION The suction fan 90 has its inlet connected to the outlet 98 of the housing 12 through conduit 72 so that when the fan is operating, the air pressure in the housing 12 is reduced. Since the housing 12 is closed to atmosphere, except through the inlet 10, the operation of the fan causes air to flow through the inlet 10 from induction tube 60, or air inlet 61, depending on the position of valve 62. If no cotton is present in the bin 14, the wand 68 of switch 66 will project in its solid line position so that switch 66 is open and the solenoid 65 will cause the valve 62 to be in its solid line position, closing the air inlet .tube 61 and opening the air and cotton induction tube 60. Accordingly, the vacuum created in the housing 12 by the fan will cause air to flow through tube 60 from a remote point such as the cotton pipe supported over a cotton trailer or other supply point.

With bafiles 55 and 56 positioned in their solid line position, as shown in FIG. 1, the incoming air flows through inlet 10 and the inertia of any cotton carried by the air will carry the cotton to the breaker roll 16 which breaks up any wads or lumps and throws the loosened and fiufied cotton into spreader conveyor 20 which distributes it across the full width of the bin. When the bin 14 is empty or only partially filled, some of the conveying airstream will enter the bin along with the cotton. This is immaterial since it finds its way out through opening 99 back into passage 15. However, as the cotton builds up within bin 14, the resistance of the cotton to the air becomes so great that air flow through bin 14 will be reduced to a minimum and the greater part of the air will then follow the line indicated by the arrows in passage 15.

As long as wand 68 is in its solid line position, the suction from fan 90 will be continued through induction tube 60 and cotton will continue to flow into bin 14. However, when the supply of cotton reaches a sufiicient height above wand 68 so that it is depressed in the dotted line position, the circuit controlled by switch 66 is closed and the solenoid 65 actuated, causing valve 62 to move to its broken line position so that the air and cotton induction tube 60 is blocked while the air inlet 61 is opened to atmosphere. Accordingly, the vacuum created by the fan 90 merely draws air through the air inlet tube 61 until the cotton being fed out through feed roll 41 and 42 reduces the amount of stored cotton in bin 14 sufliciently to uncover wand 68, which is spring loaded, to cause it to return to its solid line position and thus open switch 66 to automatically reposition valve 62 to block air inlet 61 and allow more cotton to enter the bin from the inlet tube 60.

Thus, it can be seen that the switch and valve arrangements automatically prevent the bin 14 from being overloaded or from running empty so long as a supply of cotton exists but that it, in fact, acts as a surge bin or accumulator to allow an accurate controlled rate of feed to the gin machinery regardless of the rate of feed to the bin from the wagon. This makes it possible for the ginner to properly control the feed of cotton to the machinery within the gin plant rather than depending on the man operating the wagon suck pipe.

The feed rolls 41 and 42 in the feed section 40 eifectively block the lower end of bin 14 sufficiently to cause the cotton to build up thereabove to reach the switch as previously described. The feed rolls, however, rotate in response to a variable speed drive controlled by the ginner to pass the required amount of cotton outwardly therebetween at a metered rate to suit the specific ginning conditions.

After the cotton passes between the feed rolls, it is further loosened and flutfed by the lower breaker roller 43 and thrown downwardly through opening 99 into the horizontal section 71 of passageway 15 where it is entrained by the air and moved outwardly through outlet 98 into conduit 72 and conveyed to the next cotton working machine such as a separator 92 which separates the cotton from the conveying airstream and drops it into an extractor-feeder 93 from whence it passes to a gin stand 95 across a feed apron 94. The ginned lint passes to a battery condenser and press outwardly of the gins through fl-ues 96 and 97 in the usual manner.

The conveying, airstream continues through conduit 72 to the inlet side of fan 90 from which it is discharged in the usual manner. Air velocity of about 4500 feet per minute is usually required for conveying seed cotton.

The valve blade 62 of this invention is counterbalanced to maintain the solid line position until solenoid 65 is energized to move it to the dotted line position. This provides a fail safe feature for the apparatus in the event of damage to switch 66, the solenoid 65, or connecting wiring, etc. In the event of any such damage, or damage to any of the rotating elements within the casing, bafiies 55 and 56 can be moved to their dotted line position, thus causing the stream of cotton entering through inlet tube 60 to be deflected downwardly through passageway 15 and through outlet 98 into conduit 72, completely bypassing bin 14. Although the results of such operation are not nearly as good as when the regular features of the bin are used, it will, however, permit continued ginning operations until repairs can be effected.

In the normal use, spreader conveyor 20 rotates in the direction indicated by arrows 26 so that the cotton coming off of break-er roll 16 is thrown into the helix of the spreader conveyor. Working surface 25 prevents the cotton from being overthrown and allows the spreader conveyor to divide the incoming stream and move it outwardly toward each end of the bin 14.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that many variations may be made in the embodiments chosen for the purpose of illustrating the present invention without departing from the scope thereof as defined by the appended claims.

What is claimed as invention is:

1. In a cotton feeder apparatus of the type utilized to convey cotton from a first point to a second point by inducing cotton into a stream of moving air, the combination therewith of:

(A) an induction tube including:

(1) a cotton and air inlet tube,

(2) an air inlet means, and

(3) a valve for alternately closing said cotton and air inlet tube or said air inlet means;

(B) a housing communicating with said induction tube including:

(1) an inlet and an outlet,

(2) a storage area,

(3) a first rotatable breaker roll at the upper portion of said storage area constructed to receive and work cotton from said induction tube,

(4) a rotatable helical conveyor spreader disposed close to and parallel to said first breaker roll and constructed to receive cotton from said first breaker roll and spread said cotton apart and to deliver cotton to said storage area,

(5) a pair of counter-rotating feed rolls at the lower portion of said storage area constructed to feed cotton from said storage area,

(6) a second rotatable breaker roll positioned below said pair of counter-rotating feed rolls, and

(7) a passageway in said housing adjacent said storage area and communicating with said induction tube, first breaker roll, and the lower portion of said stoarge area;

(C) an outlet conduit communicating with said passageway adjacent said lower portion of said storage area, and

(D) means for inducing a stream of air through said induction tube.

2. A cotton feeder apparatus as set forth in claim 1 and further comprising means for actuating said valve to close said cotton and air inlet tube and to open said air inlet tube when a predetermined amount of cotton is present in said storage area and to open said cotton and air inlet tube and to close said air inlet tube when less than a predetermined amount of cotton is present in said storage area.

3. A cotton feeder apparatus as set forth in claim 1 and further including baffle means for selectively varying the path of said cotton to bypass said storage area and to move said cotton directly from said inlet tube to said outlet conduit.

4. In a cotton feeder apparatus of the type utilized to convey cotton from a first point to a second point with the use of a stream of air, the combination therewith of a storage area, means for introducing cotton aggregates into a stream of air upstream of said storage area, means for moving the cotton aggregates and the air toward said storage area, means for separating the cotton aggregates from the stream of air, means in the upper portion of said storage area for dividing the cotton aggregates into smaller particles of cotton, means in the lower portion of said storage area for feeding the cotton outwardly of said storage area at a predetermined rate, and means for agitating the cotton and returning the cotton to the stream of air downstream from said storage area.

5. Apparatus for conveying fibrous material with a stream of moving air from a first point to a delivery point comprising a storage bin, means for introducing the fibrous material into the stream of moving air at said point and moving the fibrous material and stream of air toward the storage bin, means for separating the fibrous material from the stream of air and feeding the fibrous material to the storage bin and bypassing the stream of air around the storage bin, means for recombining the fibrous material with the stream of air at a predetermined rate at a second point, or for bypassing both the fibrous material and the stream of air around the storage bin, and means for interrupting the introduction of the fibrous material into the stream of moving air at said first point, said means for separating and said means for recombining the fibrous material being interposed between said first and delivery points.

6. A method of conveying cotton from a first point to a second point comprising inducing aggregates of cotton into a stream of air, moving the cotton and the air toward a storage area, inertially separating the cotton from the stream of air upstream of the storage area, working the aggregates of cotton to reduce it to loose locks of cotton, storing the loose cotton in the storage area, feeding the loose cotton at a predetermined rate back into the stream of air down stream from the storage area, agitating the cotton to further loosen it as it is returned back into the stream of air, and moving the cotton with the stream of air around the storage area when the feeding of cotton from the storage area is impeded.

7. A method of conveying cotton as claimed in claim 6 and further comprising stopping the induction of the aggregates of cotton into the stream of air at the first point when a predetermined amount of cotton is stored in the storage area while continuing to feed the cotton from the storage area into the stream of air downstream from the storage area, and resuming the induction of the aggregates of cotton into the stream of air when less than a predetermined amount of cotton is stored in the storage area.

8. A method of transferring a substance from a first point to a second point comprising interjecting the substance into a stream of air, separating the substance from the stream of air, storing the substance in a storage area, bypassing the stream of air around the storage area, feeding the substance from the storage area at a predetermined uniform rate back into the stream of air, interrupting the interjection of the substance into the stream of air when a predetermined amount of the substance has been stored in the storage area while continuing to feed the substance from the storage area into the stream of air to reduce the amount of substance stored in the storage area, resuming the interjection of the substance into the stream of air after the amount of substance in the storage area has been reduced, and bypassing the substance with the stream of air around the storage area when the feeding of the substance from the storage area is impeded.

9. Apparatus for conveying a substance in a stream of air comprising a storage bin, means for introducing the substance into the stream of air and for directing the air and substance toward said storage bin, means for selectively directing the substance into said storage bin and bypassing the air around said storage bin or bypassing both the substance and the air around said storage bin, and means for feeding the substance back into the stream of air at a point downstream from said storage bin.

10. Apparatus for conveying fibrous material in a stream of air comprising an induction tube for feeding cotton entrained in a stream of air toward a storage bin, a bypass conduit for directing the stream of air around the storage bin, movable bafiles for directing the cotton into the storage bin or through the bypass conduit, feeding means in the storage bin for feeding the cotton at a uniform rate from the storage bin back into the stream of air, and an air inlet opening upstream of the bin which is opened in response to a predetermined amount of cotton present in the bin, to decrease the flow of air through the induction tube.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,087,464 7/1937 Ayers 302--23 1,605,196 11/1926 Ligon 30223 2,096,208 10/1937 Streun 19.27 2,696,025 12/1954 Vandergritf 19-.27 3,321,251 5/1967 Reiterer 302-23 ANDRES H. NIELSEN, Primary Examiner. 

